Gunther Cunningham’s new Lions’ duties will be two-fold.

With the new coaching staff in place under Jim Caldwell, Cunningham is no longer the defensive coordinator. His 33 years of NFL coaching experience, though, is valuable and the Lions will use it. 

“He’s a dual report to myself and coach (Jim) Caldwell,’’ general manager Martin Mayhew said on Friday. “He’s going to do a lot of work for coach Caldwell during the season in terms of scouting upcoming opponents. And with us I’ve assigned him a position (group) for the Combine, he’s going to work on that position and he’s got some other personnel responsibilities that he’s going to do for us as far as scouting and evaluating players.’’

It’s not all that usual for a coach to stick around after he’s been relieved of his duties, but the 67-year-old Cunningham is an exception.

“He’s a good football coach, he’s very knowledgeable about the game,’’ Mayhew said. “I think he’s a good evaluator, he’s been that for us in the past. He had a desire to be here, I have great respect for him.’’

(Follow @PaulaPasche on Twitter. Order her book,  “100 Things Lions Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die’’ here. It’s also available at bookstores.)